Controversial piles of pet coke heading out of Michigan for now

Jul. 23, 2013

And a spokesman for Detroit Bulk Storage Inc., the company hosting the riverside pet coke pile, shown in March 2013, announced it is not scheduled to receive additional shipments and is rapidly shipping away the existing pile northeast of the Ambassador Bridge. The size of petroleum coke piles along the Detroit River have been reduced since pictured here. / Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free Press

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Detroit Free Press staff writer

Controversial piles of petroleum coke stored along the Detroit River may soon become a memory — for the time being, at least.

A spokesman for Koch Carbon, the owner of the pet coke, confirmed the piles are leaving Michigan for another, undisclosed state. Months of public outcry over the riverside piles, however, isn’t motivating the move.

“Koch Carbon has made a business decision to store purchases of petroleum coke from Marathon Petroleum at another port outside the state of Michigan,” Koch Carbon spokesman Paul Baltzer said in an e-mailed statement. “This decision was made to meet our shipment needs.”

The Marathon Detroit Refinery off South Fort Street last year completed a more than $2-billion expansion to allow for increased refining of heavy Canadian crude oil. Pet coke is a byproduct of tar sands oil refining that is used as a relatively inexpensive, though dirty-burning, fuel. Marathon spokeswoman Stefanie Griffith said officials at the refinery “have been working with our customer, Koch Carbon” on the issue of pet coke storage and shipment.

But a spokesman for the local company hosting the pet coke, Detroit Bulk Storage, indicated the removal of the piles “is temporary.”

“We are exploring all options at this time,” Detroit Bulk Storage spokesman Daniel Cherrin said in an e-mail.

The company is in the process of seeking permits from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for dust and stormwater runoff. It also is seeking to satisfy City of Detroit officials’ request that the piles comply with city zoning and other codes.

“While we are in the process of applying for permits through the DEQ, we are still waiting for the approval of our permit from the city. In the meantime, the number of ships to remove the current inventory has increased and the piles have been reduced significantly. In addition, Detroit Bulk Storage is not scheduled to receive any additional shipments of petroleum coke; however, while we have existing inventory, we are continuing to load it.”

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The pile along the river northeast of the Ambassador Bridge, at one time more than four stories high, caused a public outcry after it appeared earlier this year. State Department of Environmental Quality regulators and Detroit city officials appeared to be caught flat-footed by the piles, and scrambled this spring to assess whether they harmed nearby air and water quality only after media reports and complaints from residents and local lawmakers.

A second pet coke pile on Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority property southwest of the Ambassador Bridge was removed this spring.

DEQ officials this month confirmed that the piles were causing fugitive dust that affected nearby residents and their homes.

Serene Arena lives at the 14th Street Lofts apartment complex within 1,000 feet of the remaining pet coke pile. After repeatedly encountering a thick, black dust in her apartment since this spring, she provided a sample on a new sponge to the Free Press. The sponge was then provided to the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center, an environmental nonprofit, and the dust was confirmed to contain pet coke through laboratory testing. The dust includes the metal vanadium, which is believed to cause cancer in high concentrations and prolonged exposures.

“I just want to see it gone,” Arena said. “I’m glad they are moving it even temporarily, but ultimately, I’d prefer it be a permanent removal.”

The City of Detroit should not allow the pet coke piles along the river, she said.

“They are the only government body able to say ‘No, they can’t use the riverfront as a dumping ground,’ ” Arena said. “I really wish the city would step up to that.”